WSP01537

• File Number: 8042.A
• Description: Section D General Studies - Other States
• State: AZ
• Date: 12/4/1998
• Author: AZ,CO,NV,NM,UT,WY
• Title: Arizona Water Protection Fund - Meetings/Newletters - Proposal for Interim Lake Mead Reservoir Operation Criteria Related to a Surplus, Normal, and shortage Year Declarations
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

GOU309

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a much more limited extent. If reservoir conditions continue to deteriorate, additional cuts in use
by CAP will be required.

VI. Overrun Accountine

The Draft California 4.4 Plan includes a provision that allows individual entitlement

holders to exceed their yearly apportionment. The proposed overrun would be constrained by a

maximum allowable accrual and would be subject to repayment in subsequent years. The overrun

.accounting provision is tied to the administration of agricultural entitlements.

The Six States are concerned with the overrun provisions. First. as the Colorado River

enters into an era of limits. the States expect the Bureau of Reclamation to strictly enforce its

contracts and the entitlements. In essence. within the Lower Basin. the Bureau must play the role

of the State Engineer and enforce current limits on diversions by water users. Secondly. the Six

States are leery of proposals that would allow significant diversions above the amount of water

allowed to a state in shonage. normal. or limited surplus years according to the proposal

described in this paper. It would be extremely inequitable to allow California agricultural districts

to overrun their diversions by 10%, which is over 300.000 acre feet, while at the same time ca1ling

for the Central Arizona Project to reduce diversions by 500.000 acre feet because a shonage had

been declared.

. In spite of these significant concerns. the Six States do recognize that there may be limited

occasions when inadvertent overruns will occur. Due to the fact that the annual entitlement of a

junior priority district is dependent on the actual use by a senior priority user. there may be

occasions when a district will order water only to find out later that it had exceeded its contract

entitlement. Ibis matter is funher compounded in the Lower Basin because a state's

apponionment is for consumptive use rather than diversions. Until the books are reconciled to

calculate diversions less measured and unmeasured return flows. it may not be possible to know

whether or not an overrun has occurred until the after-the-fact accounting is completed.

The Six States propose that a limited form of overrun accounting be instituted. It must be

based on the following principles:

1.) Overruns must be inadvertent.

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